Under pressure, Erdogan is delirious – Nikos Dendias is in Benghazi today

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Erdogan again turned menacingly towards Athens, which continues its barrage of contacts, strengthening its alliances and internationalizing Ankara’s absurdities.

By Penelope Galliou

A few hours after the ice they put on him both US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, attempting to limit the fronts it opens and rein in Ankara’s appetites and provocations, in the Eastern Mediterranean and within NATO, Tayyip Erdoğan, visibly annoyed, turned menacingly towards Athens, which continues its barrage of contacts, strengthening its alliances and to internationalize Ankara’s absurdities.

Returning to the tactic of escalation, as happens every time “squeezed in”, the Turkish president with his now well-known and repeated belligerent slogans proceeded with new threats and speaking to journalists, he insisted on the delusion of invading Greece overnight. “What I always say, that ‘one night we can suddenly come’ this does not back down is our basic principle. Therefore “one night suddenly we can go again” he repeated during the press conference he granted in Bali, Indonesia in the context of the G20 summit.

Another crescendo which comes to be added to a series of others, but now they do not leave anyone indifferent, whether these are countries – allies in the wider Eastern Mediterranean region, or the other side of the Atlantic, or leading media, commenting on the “Erdogan phenomenon” “.

It is no coincidence that Washington Post article he refers to the dangerous role of the Turkish president and how his attitude incites NATO, while he makes special reference to his threats against Greece and wonders “With such allies, what to do with the enemies?” The Turkish president openly threatens to enter Greece at night… Yes, you read that right. “Erdogan is threatening another NATO member with war,” the publication says, commenting on “the works and days” of the Ankara strongman.

The new Turkish presidential delusion, however, Athens attributes this to the impasses of the Turkish president and the difficult pre-election period he is going through. “We all know that in Turkey it is essentially a pre-election period, but this cannot be an excuse for these threats like we will come at night”, commented the Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Dendias from Rome, rejecting the threats but at the same time characterizing them as “useful” as explained “they prove to our allies that Turkey is a country that threatens Greece, a country of the European Union, a member country of NATO and we want the clear condemnation of these threats. And it is disappointing that Turkey does not seem to understand the reality created by the Russian invasion of Ukraine”.

New resounding messages against Turkish revisionism

In the middle of the electrified climate cultivated by the Turkish paroxysm, Nikos Dendias insists on the path of International Law and the strengthening of Greece’s alliances by sending a resounding message to the neighbor, through Italy. During the meeting that the Minister of Foreign Affairs had with his Italian counterpart Antonio Tajani, they sent a joint message to prevent Turkish revisionism with the head of Italian diplomacy stating emphatically and clearly that “the sovereignty of Greece, including the Aegean islands, is not in question and should not be to be disputed” while he once again invited Turkey to dialogue and not with threats.

In the same climate, the statements of Mr. Dendias, who recalled that in the case of the Aegean, “the Lausanne and Paris treaties, both of which have been signed by Italy, are the basic tools, as is International Law. If we use threats like Russia does, we cannot move forward, we reject them,” the Greek Foreign Minister clarified once again. He even recalled the agreement to define the Greece-Italy EEZ that the two countries signed based on International Law and the International Law of the Sea, stressing that Greece and Italy chose the path of peace, cooperation and friendship. “We wish all the countries in the eastern Mediterranean to choose the same path” he concluded, urging Turkey to follow the same path.

Of particular importance is the today’s visit of Nikos Dendias to Benghazi where he will meet with the president of the House of Representatives, as well as with other Libyan officials. A trip during which the Greek Minister of Foreign Affairs intends to convey two messages, that it must be ensured that there will be a political process that will allow elections to be held as soon as possible, with the parallel withdrawal of all foreign forces. Nikos Dendias is expected to focus on the special importance of avoiding destabilizing actions by the government of Tripoli, such as the recent signing of the illegal memorandum with Turkey. “A memorandum that has been rejected by the Libyan Parliament, as well as by many of our partners,” commented Mr. Dendias to his Italian counterpart, while thanking Italy for not recognizing the illegal Turkish-Libyan memorandum.

Disturbance in the US too

However, the “slaps” on Tayyip Erdoğan continued from the other side of the Atlantic with the American senator Bob Menendez not to budge a single point from his firm position on the Turkish F16s, as long as Turkish provocations and threats continue. “I do not believe that the US should put the F-16 fighters in the hands of President Erdogan. And that is why, as the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I will not approve the sale of any F-16 to Turkey until it stops the campaign of provocations in the wider region” he clarified during an event of the Global Coordination Committee of the Cyprus Struggle. Paralleling the revisionism of Putin and Erdogan and referring to occupied Cyprus, he added “Let’s show the dictators of the world that they cannot unilaterally violate international law with annexations whenever they wish. Let’s work until the last Turkish soldier leaves the island of Cyprus for good”.

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen also railed against Turkey, noting that “Erdogan and Turkey continue to repeatedly violate the security resolutions of the United Nations Security Council and it must be made abundantly clear that this is unacceptable and that there will be consequences” he stated while referring to the Turkish F16s and insisted on the conditions set by the US, reminding however that “we are asking them to satisfy a number of conditions that have not yet been satisfied”.

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